'Henley' Fits Perfectly in Turf Trinity

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY–Back when the New York Racing Association announced its bold new initiative for 3-year-old turf horses in the summer, a trio of big-money events dubbed the “Turf Trinity,” many quipped that it would quickly be reconsidered as the “Chad Brown Trinity”, due to the perennial leading trainer's particular dominance with grass horses.

It only took one race in the series, however, to throw a wrench in that assumption, as longshot Henley's Joy (Kitten's Joy) upset the Belmont Derby at over 20-1 for Jeff Bloom's Bloom Racing Stable and trainer Mike Maker. Sunday at Saratoga, the overachieving colt will look to make another early mark on the series as he contests the first running of the Turf Trinity's second leg, the $1-million Saratoga Derby, which will be run at 1 3/16 miles to mirror the distance of the Triple Crown's middle jewel, the GI Preakness S.

“I'm a big fan,” Bloom said with a laugh about his early impressions of the series. “I think it's a great idea, just another way to create excitement, interest and support a whole different component of our business in terms of developing young turf horses. It's something that I think will only grow and become a big thing for the game. Obviously I'm a big fan having taken down the first ever [leg] of it, but I think it's going to build excitement and you're going to see a lot of people plan to go after running in and winning these races.”

Henley's Joy was a $50,000 purchase at OBS April last year, and has so far earned nearly seven figures on the racetrack despite suffering a number of troubled trips going all the way back to his unveiling, where he navigated a slow start and ground loss to score a 14-1 upset on the Ellis lawn. Next time out, the chestnut paid for himself and then some with a neck triumph in the lucrative Kentucky Downs Juvenile S. After that, though, Henley's Joy won just one of his next eight starts, a stretch that included runner-up finishes by a nose, a neck and a half-length, and which Bloom chalked up to bad luck more than anything.

“He's a horse that had exhibited tons of talent, and even going back to his debut race, he had to overcome so much adversity with a poor start, extremely wide trip, bumped,” he said. “If you went back and looked at every single one of his races, including two of his just horrific near misses, he had trips that were so compromised. Every rider that had been on him said the same thing, that he's one of the good ones, and if not for the bad trip, he would've won the race.”

Then came the July 6 1 1/4-mile Belmont Derby, Henley's Joy's first foray beyond nine furlongs. True to expectation, the Chad Brown barn had four imposing runners in the race, but Bloom and Maker's ace in the hole was jockey Jose Lezcano, riding Henley's Joy for the first time in the midst of a brilliant meet that would see him take home his first-ever New York riding title. Lezcano worked out a beautiful trip, saving ground and sitting just off the speed, finding clear sailing in the stretch and just edging past fellow longshot Social Paranoia (Street Boss) to pull the 3/4-length shocker.

“It's not like he was missing by much running against the best horses,” Bloom said. “He had run against War of Will, and a number of really good horses and had held his own. It simply came down to him getting an absolutely fabulous trip, and things worked out.”

Bloom, himself a former jockey who piloted 172 winners in his brief career, noted that, because of his riding experience, he tends not to be overly judgmental of jockeys when he's the recipient of a bad trip as an owner.

“I really don't like to be critical of riders,” he said. “Having been one, I have a completely different perspective and so many things happen during the course of the race. It's really easy for people to sit back, watch a race and have all the answers, but there are split-second decisions that are required to be made and regardless of instructions, the complexion of a race changes from second to second. So I try to remove that emotional component of it when I'm watching the races.”

As for the Saratoga Derby, Bloom is confident that Henley's Joy will not only replicate his Belmont Derby heroics, but potentially improve upon them in a race that will include a number of players from the Brown barn as well as European powerhouse Aidan O'Brien.

“We're pretty high on him right now, he came out of the Belmont Derby probably in better shape than he went into it,” he said. “If a horse can blossom even more, he's done it. He's matured physically and really filled out nicely in the last couple of months. That race definitely gave him what I think is a good confidence booster. Often times, when horses run into trips where they have problems, they can go the other way and get dejected, but it's been the opposite for him. He's relished the fight. He had a beautiful breeze the other day, he's ready, and we're looking forward to hopefully getting that next leg.”

Henley's Joy isn't the only top-level talent who will give Bloom a thrill this summer at the Spa. The brilliant Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute), a four-time Grade I winner who ran her record to a perfect five-for-five this season with a victory in the GIII Molly Pitcher S. July 20 at Monmouth, is gearing up for a run in Saratoga's GI Personal Ensign S. Aug. 24. The dark bay 4-year-old, who Bloom bought for $80,000 at OBS April in 2017 and now owns in partnership with Madaket Stables and Allen Racing, has earned $2.87 million on the racetrack with 10 victories in 16 starts.

“She's a game-changer,” Bloom said. “You hope she's not a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but that could possibly be the case. There's only so many of those kinds of horses. She's just in a whole different league, a whole different level and you hope and aspire to get more of those, but I know, being a realist, it's a challenge. On every level, she's been a pleasure to be a part of. One of the things that makes it even nicer is the personality she has. She's just so wonderful to be around and fun to be around at the barn, yet she's fierce on the racetrack. The ride that we've had has been just incredible, beyond words, and we're not done yet. It's one of those things where every day, you wake up thinking, 'Wow, Midnight Bisou is one of our horses.' It's really exciting to sit back and enjoy the ride and embrace it as much as you can. It teaches you to be in the moment and really appreciate how exciting, how much fun it is.”